Another rehash of Hideo Nakata’s Japanese Horror flick following the heels for Ringu and Grudge. Hideo Nakata who has great success with creepy modern day horrors, meaning, you don’t see his characters locked up in a vampire infested 18th century castle in nowhere land - but his character carry cell phones, live and work as normal people do in present day America or Japan depending on which version you see. Nakata’s trademarks are all over the place including the end that is not really an end. Rain always plays a dominant factor, so no wonder both Ring and Dark water has some ties to the Emerald City (Seattle).

Story: Recently divorced Dahlia lives in New York, being priced out of the sky high Manhattan market, she moves to New York’s industrial suburbs with her daughter. Needless to say, the place reeks and smells of dark creepy characters. And mysterious things happen and yada yada yada, few artificial thrills (more like sound effects) we come to the story. A misguided flash back later the last act picks up the tempo, and ends with a nice little ‘touch’.

The casting is perfect, Jennifer Connelly as Dahlia, always perfect John Reilly as apartment manager Mr. Murray and little cutie pie Ariel Gade as Cecily. Fancy aerial shots, fake dirty sets, and an ever present green cast shows all gloss and polish of a Hollywood production trying hard. The movie is built up good, and sometimes is fairly well done. But as usual the movie falls badly when the moviemakers take logic for granted. Like this, A dark stormy night, creepy sounds, a lone staircase, lights are out, you are alone, you hear spooky laughter in a dark narrow hallway at the end of it there is a menacing door, a door which the manager tells never to open. Now, unless you are stupid, you will wait till morning or call someone to go along with you or at least take some precautions - but Dahlia goes alone, ignores all the sound effects we hear, so we keep asking “Why? Why does this director, who till now has build up a realistic characterization, wants to throw it all away for cheap thrills?”

Maybe it’s the way B grade horrors work.

*** (3/5)